Chapter 10 - counter attack

As the news about Lerato kept raging across the school, back in the cafeteria someone shouted in excitement, "Ella, the queen bee of the school, has posted about Lerato on the school page."

Hearing that Ella had said something about Lerato, all students went to their phones. After all, it's no secret that Lerato and Ella are rivals and they can't stand each other. They wondered how much gas Ella had poured on Lerato's raging fire that was already burning beyond control.

As they read Ella's post, bafflement and confusion were written on their faces. They were expecting Ella to take this opportunity to bury Lerato so deep that even if she were resurrected, she wouldn't have a chance to resurface. But instead, Ella had used a fire extinguisher to stop the raging fire that was about to consume Lerato for good.

Tristin's plan had already begun. He had asked Ella to post good things about Lerato on the school page, highlighting Lerato's good qualities and denying the fact that Lerato had thrown herself at Thomas when she had already refused Thomas so many times in the past.

Tristin had asked Ella to start his plan for two reasons. First, Ella has influence at school; whenever she does something, more students pay attention to her actions. Second, it's no secret that Ella and Lerato don't see eye to eye, and having Ella, who was Lerato's rival, say such good things about Lerato would pique curiosity among the students, making them wonder why Lerato had apologized to Thomas. After all, it was a proven fact that she had refused Thomas before.

While the students were starting to wonder why Lerato had apologized, Tristin asked Max to comment on Ella's post and give reasons for why Lerato had lunch with Tristin yesterday.

Max, eager to participate in Tristin's plan, commented, "Class rep was tasked by Miss Megan to show Tristin around the school. Lerato didn't have lunch with Tristin alone; it's not like she was on a date with Tristin."

Tristin had told Max to reference the words "class rep" to remind everyone in their class about the truth of the matter and what kind of class rep Lerato was to them.

Mdu and Kenny also didn't waste time. They commented on all the good deeds Lerato had done as a class rep and how Lerato had always treated everyone in class fairly.

Soon, more and more of Lerato's classmates began commenting good things about Lerato and denying the rumor, saying there must be some kind of mistake. Even students from other classes who had good impressions of Lerato began to join Lerato's side.

As public opinion about Lerato turned 180 degrees, Tristin felt it was time for phase two of the plan. Phase two was to attack Thomas. He suspected that if Thomas had the nerve to push Lerato into a corner, there was a great chance he had done this many times to other students.

With that thought, Tristin took his phone. Like everyone else except Ella, he had been commenting anonymously, and he continued to do so. His comment read: "The real reason why Lerato had to apologize is probably because she was forced into a corner by Thomas. I'm sure Lerato is not the only victim."

As soon as Tristin's comment appeared on the post, the mystery about Lerato's apology was solved. Those who had also been victimized by Thomas began to sympathize with Lerato and shared how Thomas had also victimized them.

Soon, the topic shifted to Thomas, with students calling him names and discussing how horrible his ploys could be. One comment mentioned a girl who had to leave school because Thomas kept blackmailing her to do shameful things. As a result, the girl's family moved out of Bongsburg because they didn't have the power to face Thomas and his family.

When students learned about the girl who had to drop out of school because of Thomas, their anger rose to a boiling point. They vented their anger in the comments, calling Thomas shameless and despicable for using his family's influence to push girls to the edge of a cliff. This post had given them a rare opportunity to vent their anger against Thomas.

As the raging fire had completely shifted to Thomas, Max looked at Tristin with admiration and a bit of fear. This guy had everyone in the school dancing to his tune with a simple post. From selecting Ella to post, arranging their comments, and gradually shifting the blame to Thomas, Tristin had orchestrated everything perfectly.

Max thought for a moment, his fear growing. He said to himself, "No, I'm wrong. We are not dancing to his tune. This guy is a conductor, and we simply play the instruments for him without even realizing it." At this moment, he saw Tristin in a new light and was secretly glad he had befriended such a guy. Kenny and Mdu had the same thoughts.

"Brother, your plan is working like a well-oiled machine," Max said with a thumbs up to Tristin.

"Thanks, brother, but the show isn't over yet. Now it's time for phase three," Tristin said with a smile.

"Is there a phase three to your plan?" Max asked. Tristin hadn't mentioned phase three before.

"Yeah, there is, brother," Tristin said with a smile. Originally, there were only two phases, but he had decided to borrow a stick from a donkey and completely crush Thomas.

"Since we are already at this point and the fire around Thomas is raging, I've decided to take this momentum to remove Thomas from the student presidency and possibly from the rugby team. After all, honorable students like us can't have a despicable president and a captain of a rugby team like Thomas, can we?" Tristin said with a teasing smile while holding a can of soda.

The guys were baffled by Tristin's statement. He didn't want to just help Lerato; he wanted to completely crush Thomas.

Ignoring their looks, Tristin went to his phone and commented, "Thomas is a despicable person, and having him as our president and the captain of the rugby team leaves a bad reputation for our school. How can we, honorable students, follow such a person? Wouldn't that make us look as bad as him?"

Tristin targeted the students' sense of morality, making them question themselves. After all, if one follows a bad leader, one is either ignorant or as bad as the leader.

Within a few minutes, the comments were requesting the removal of Thomas from the student representative council. The student committee had little choice in the matter and decided to hold a meeting after school with the agenda of removing Thomas.

"Brother, you are so amazing. There will be a meeting after school to remove Thomas," Max said with eyes full of admiration.

Tristin didn't think much about it. Throughout the entire time, he had been following the rules of PR management. In the business world, when a corporation has a scandal, good PR can gradually turn public opinion by presenting facts and similar past scandals. Step by step, they can make the victim look like a villain and the corporation look like a victim.

In this case, Tristin had turned the tide, making the students see Thomas for who he truly was and rallying them to support Lerato.